Medical splints find use in supporting a body member, generally an extremity, which has incurred a fracture in its skeletal structure. The splint immobilizes the portion of the body involved in order to minimize the patient's suffering and the aggravation of the injury produced by relative motion of the skeletal structures involved.
Classically, splinting a fractured extremity involved placing wood slats on both sides of the injured portion and bandaging it and the slats with extensive amounts of tape, cloth or other wrapping material. This technique necessitated extensive handling and movement of the injured structure and the subsequent production of the deleterious results supposedly avoided through the use of a splint. Further, opacity of the splint to X-irradiation precluded its use during that type of examination. Moreover, removing the splint again involved substantial manipulation of the structure involved.
One company, in a product marketed by it, has modified the classical splint by adding a second rigid slat for each side of the body member involved. The two slats on each side have a slot running down their middles through which a locking device passes. This arrangement allows the slats to assume an angular configuration approximating that of an injured appendage such as an arm or leg. When locked in position, the usual wrapping procedure then affixes the slat to the limb. This procedure, however, still displays the disadvantages of the classical splint discussed above. The extensive wrapping may aggravate the pain and injury while the X-ray opaque material for the splint precludes its use during diagnosis.
To avoid extensive wrapping, U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,273 to T. D. Ray discloses various straps for attaching the splint to the appendage. These straps may consist of one or two pieces. They have a configuration which allows them to tightly circumscribe the splint prior to application upon a person's limb. Sections of hooks and loops, such as those bearing the Velcro trademark, allow the ends of the strap to attach to themselves after affixing the splint to the limb.
However, the straps lack positive attachment to the splint. Consequently, it may move up or down the splint and inadequately immoblize the involved body portion.
J. T. Ulansey, in his U.S Pat. No. 3,719,187, shows a flexible splint which attempts to ameliorate this problem by including openings in the splint for a strap. The dimensions of the openings limit the longitudinal motion of the strap along the splint. However, this arrangement requires the placement of the strap at the site of openings. This may not represent the preferred location for the straps in every instance. To make the apparatus operate properly for a fracture, Ulansey suggests the use of adhesive tape. That, of course, entails subjecting injured portion to appreciable motion.
Moreover, the size of the openings permits the straps to pass freely through them. This could result in the splint moving about the limb. Precluding this motion requires tightening the strap on the injured portion.
Accordingly, notwithstanding these developments, the search continues for an improved splint arrangement. Desirably, it should facilitate its use in emergency conditions with a minimum of pain and aggravation of the injury. In doing so, the splint should provide a wide latitude of choices for the exact location and arrangement of the straps for different body members, different sizes of the body members, and different locations of fractures or other injuries within the member.